Rail anchor



Aug. 31,1926. v1,598,386

. W. M. OSBORN RAIL ANCHOR Filed Dev. 10 1925 Patented Aug. 31, 1926.

vmarten stares PATENT ortica WARREN lVI. OSBORN, 'OF CHCAGQ ILLINOIS.

vRAIL ANCHOR.

ryA-msleaton filed December My invention relates to anchors for railroad rails,` and itsobject isto provide a new and improved rail anti-Creeper which whenattached to .the rail abuts against the sides -o-f adjacent ties and acts as a two-way anti.

Creeper by transmitting to the ties the longi `itudinal movements or thrusts of the rail in lboth `directions'caused by the expansion .and

contraction of the rail or by its wave move-` f partly in elevation and .partly i-n cross-sec- -tion and with lthe wedge or key of Fig. l omitted; Fig. 3 .is .a vsectional view taken on the line 3 3 .in Fig. E2 .looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. l is a detail view showing a variation in the form of the foot of the anchor leg abutting against .the ties, and Fig. 5 is a perspective View ot a suit-able :key or wedge whichmay be employed.

In the drawings the reference lettenA vdesignatesV lthe flanged base of .a rail, B its web broken away -to lomit its (head for simyplicity of *illustration7 :and 'C :a 'pair of the cross-ties vbetween which the anchor' is located when mounted on the rail.

My improved railanchor is formed in onepieee from metal having considerable resiliency, such vfor example as spring steel or .east malleable iron, and yconsists of a member `such as a cross-plateor bar l which underlies the rail between adjacent ties `and grips its base, and a pair of angular legs 2 extending laterally and ydownwardly from one end of the crosssmembcr and adapted to lie betweenand abut against 'the=corresponding sides of the adjacent ties, the legs being `preferably provided at -their outer ends with `downturned feet 3 to provide more extended bearing surfaces against the ties. At `its endopposite to the legs the lcross-plate l is provided with a ireveisely bent jaw 4 which .grips lone flange of the rail base lwhen the anchor Ais in position thereon, and atits leg end the crossfplate is lprovided with an upwardlyaentending shoulder 5 which has a -vertical lface 6 at its lower inner portion to `engage'the'edge of the opposite flange of the rail base, the inner upper lend of the released.

10,1925. YeriatNo. 74,503.

shoulder 5 being beveled outwardly as .at 7 to facilitate the assemblageof the .anchor on the rail base.

The cross-plate l preferably is slit longitudinally at its centerl so that its Vshoulder end is divided or sectional; when the plate is formed of spring steel the slit-may extend into `the jaw-l leaving a-narrow bridge 8 at the inner end thereof, and when the plate l is of other resilient metal, such as .castmalleable iron, the -slit will preferably extend only'to about the base ofthe jawll.

fllhe dimensions of the lparts of the Vplate are such that when it is assembled V'upon a .rail-base one edge of the latter fits underlthe jaw l and the other edge abuts against the shoulder 5 as shown in Fig. 3; in assembling `the plate on the rail the jawet ishoolred onto one `flange ofthe rail-base and crowded .or driven into -gripping position thereon, and the vresiliency ofthe jaw causes the shoulder 5 during this'operationto hug the lower face yof the rail base and to move upwardly to snap into position against the opposite flange thereof when the jaw is brought .to its `finaal position so that theeorresponding flange of the `base seats against the shoulderD the beveled face '7 of the shoulder facilitating the passage 4of the rail base to .place and crowding its opposite edge under 'the jaw. Uien the plate is assembledon the 4rail .the resiliency `of its jaw l holds Vthe shoulder 5 -under compression against the rail flange with a strong. grip, and theengagement of the Vfeet. 3 of `the legs 2 with the opposite -ties tends to hold this end of the plate up ,against the rail baseso that the grip ofthe shoulder 5 on the railjismaintained.

The legend of the plate ispreferably -provided with an inclined seat 9 extending fthrough the shoulder yon a fline with the .fin- Lclined upper surfaceof the rail-flange, and a key l() @is adapted -to fit the `seat .and overlie the vrail-flange to hold this end ofthe plate in its lassembled position on Ithe .rail-'base so ythat Ait will not be accidentally displacedor A. key is'pireferablyybut not necessarily, employed, and is of lsuch shape that it may be easily pushed into its seat V.after the anchor is assembled on the rail, it being lobvious that the key will draw this endof the cross-plate snugly up against the Yrailllange.

base and will aid in holding it in that position. The key is pret'era-bly wedge shaped in both thickness and width, and is preterably j 'frovided with an enlarged arrow shaped or'beveled leading end as at ll to facilitate its spreading the sections of the shoulder suiliciently and with an'enlarged head as at l2, so that when it is in its seat the shoulder sections 5 will ht in place between these enlargements to look the key against accidental withdrawal or displacenient in either direction. The key may be of such width that when seated it may or may not spread the-sections of the shoulder beyond their normal separation; when the jaw t has a strong grip on the rail base its spring action will ordinarily be suflicient to hold the faces 6 of the shoulder 5 in gripping engagement with the rail, but in case the rail is of such section that its flange does not open the jaw 4 sufficiently to produce enough spring action or lresiliency to attain this result at the opposite end ot' the plate a key may be used having suiiicient width to spread the shoulder sections 5 beyond their normal separation so that the outer ends of the face -will grip or bite into the railrlhe length or span of the legs 2 varies to Y conform to the general practice of spacing the ties on the railroad to be equipped; for eXample,' on bridges the usual practice is to space the ties twelve (l2) inches between centers, and in ballast track they are differ ently spaced according to the number of ties speciiied'for a given length of rail, and the span of the legs may be determined-accordingly. The ends of the legs are turned down to form feet 3 to provide extended bearing surfaces against the ties, and in some cases the feet may be widened as shown in 4. rEhe point of contact ott the legs with the ties is below thebase ofthe rail, so when a rail tends to creep the resistance of the corresponding tie produces an upward thrust on the associated Vleg and aids the rail-engaging devices on the plate to tighten the grip on the rail. In creeping of the rail in either direction the tie resistance is transmitted to the plate, and the grip of the anchor at the leg end eX- tended to include both sections ol the'shoulder 5 wnen the plate is slit and the key is employed as the latter transmits the stress on one sect-ion to the other so that two points or bearings of resistance are provided.

As the anchor grips or clamps the rail and hears against adjacent ties it resists all tendency of the rail to creep in either direction; and as the tie-engaging legs of the anchor are near its end the stress or thrust due to the resistance of the ties in either direction tends to skew the anchor on the rail and draw thejaw up onto one flange of its base and wedge the appropriate end of the e of the shoulder against the edge of its d flange to increase the grip or hold. of the anchor on the rail.

l claim:

initary rail anchor consisting ot a ent plate constructed to extend under a Lail-between adjacent ties and having a jaw adapted to hook onto one flange of the rail base and a shoulder adapted to engage the opposite flange of the rail base, and lateral legs extending in opposite directions from one end of the plate and adapted to abut respectively against said ties.

2. A unitary rail anchor consisting of a plate constructed to extend under a rail between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of the rail base and having a shoulder to engage the opposite ange of the rail base, and lateral legs extending in opposite directions from the shoulder-end of said plate and adapted to abut respectively against said ties.

A unitary rail anchor consisting of a plate constructed to extend under a rail between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of the rail base and having a shoulder to engage the opposite flange of the rail base, and opposite legs extending laterally and downwardly from the shoulder-end of said plate and adapted to bear respectively against said ties.

et. A unitary rail anchor consisting of a plate constructed to extend under a rail between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of the rail base and having a sectional shoulder to engage the opposite flange of the rail base, and lateral legs extending in opposite directions from the shoulder-sections and adapted to abut respectively againstsaid ties.

5. A rail anchor comprising a plate constructed toextend under a rail base between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of the rail base and having a shoulder to engage the opposite flange ot' the rail base, said plate hav ing a longitudinal slit extending through `said shoulder, lateral legs extending from the plate on opposite sides ot said slit and adapted to abut respectively against said ties, and a key seated in the shoulder to overlie the associated flange.

6. fi rail anchor comprising a plate constructed to extend under a rail base between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of the rail hase and having a shoulder to engage the opposite flange ot the rail base, said plate having a longitudinal slit extending through said shoulder, lateral legs extending downwardly from the plate on opposite sides of said slit and adapted to abut respectively against said ties, and a key seated in the shoulder to overlie the associated flange. i

T. A rail anchor comprising a plate oon strneted to extend undei1 a i'ail base between adjacent ties and having a jaw at one end adapted to grip one l'lange of the rail base and having a shoulder to engage the opposite flange of the i'ail base, Isaid plate having a longitudinal slit extending through said shoulder, lateral legs extending downwardly li'oin the plate on opposite sides of said slit and adapted to abut respectively 10 against said ties, a tiansveise seat in the shoulder above its associated hase-flange, and a key Constructed to enteil and interlock With said seat.

ln testimony whereof l hereto ailiX my '15 signature.

VARREN M. OSBORN. 

